sighs, rubs his temples, and retreats. He puts a hand to his ear and half-whispers, “Narref, she’s trying to bargain herself... Two other rejected supply units that I assume to be her friends... I know, but if we do that then… No, they both appear to be-,” he looks Savvy up and down. “-Lord Giomar’s... Okay,” he sighs again. “Okay. Yes. Understood.”
He lifts his gaze to the three of us before turning to address the other vampires. “I am taking these supply units back to the Selection Hall. You have no right to an explanation on this matter, so I suggest you keep your curiosities to yourselves. Breathe a word of this instance, any of you, and I will be a cheerful attendee to your execution.” Theatrically, he points to every vampire in the room. The lesser vampires stand complacent, looking between each other, though none have the audacity to speak out their qualms. Gemini turns to me.
“Well? Come on then,” he says sourly, turning to head back up the stairs.
The solid ground might as well be jelly, everything else a blur. I focus on Savvy who is already shaking and crying again. In mere seconds she has me in a tight hug, sobbing, while Katarii slowly moves in to do the same. I’m too shocked to feel awkward, but I move away from the affections.
“Wavorly...,” Savvy mutters. “T-thank you. Thank you so much. I can’t believe it. I-”
“You would have done the same, Savvy, it’s fine.” I cut her off, still so shaken that I can’t think straight. She answers by crying more.
“Really? You’re still down there? Hurry up you godforsaken snails.” Gemini throws a fit from the top of the staircase, and the three of us start our ascent from the fallen reserves.
As I make the upstairs trek, hand in hand with Savvy, there’s absolutely nothing present in my mind except stark disbelief. Not one supply unit—no matter how rare or delectable—would have been spared if they acted the way I did at Distribution. And the fact that I’m on my way to Zein’s supply seraglio after impulsively insulting him is more than a little disconcerting. It’s downright terrifying. There’s no doubt that I will have to face him again, and most likely with consequence. Knots form one on top of the other in the pit of my stomach the more I think about it.
While drowning myself in thought, we catch up to Gemini who taps his foot while waiting.
“From here we will take a scarcely used route to the nearest exit,” he informs. “This isn’t something that happens often, so stay quiet and follow close.” He eyes me with suspicion. “Especially you.”
Feeling pretty humbled, I take the high road and keep my mouth shut as we file through the doorways. In no time at all, the four of us are heading through hidden paths in the halls, down secret passageways, and along shadowy corridors leading me to trip ugly over Gemini.
“Oh, sorry,” I say out of pure habit.
He smirks as he continues forward, replying, “Ah, so you do have the ability to be civil? What an honest relief.”
I scoff. Behind me, Savvy consoles a traumatized Katarii with whispers of reassurance. They were good friends at Nightingale as well. I wonder for a moment if Savvy is closer to Katarii than she is to me. It wouldn’t be surprising since-
I quickly push the insecurities out of my mind. I need to stop thinking about everything that doesn’t have to do with a plan of action.
“I suppose Zein isn’t too angry?” I probe Gemini.
“Lord Zein. And of course he’s angry. Furious, actually.” He chuckles, damning my heart to my stomach. “Lord Zein is a creature of pride, darling. I would be scared out of my mind that he reevaluated his judgment after that… episode.”
I look down, a spark of fear causing a wildfire up and down my body. His answer shouldn’t be that surprising. However, throughout all my indirect experiences with him, Zein’s been somewhat merciful in one way or another to me. Is it because of how we met?
“Then why has he been keeping me alive? Even at Nightingale he would turn down requests to punish me.” I point out, quickly stomaching the actual punishment I did receive.
“Well I wouldn’t know anything about that,” he says, “but I would suppose that he’s just in the mood to do the taming, himself, for a change. Nightingale’s methods are obviously not working. Tch, tch. This year has had more rejections